The Ideal Hotel for a calm and classy trip to New York: “The Library Hotel”

If you’re looking for a hotel in New York in a peaceful, distinguished and classy environment, the New York Library Hotel is the ideal choice. I had the chance to test it on one of my trips to New York City, and I can only say good things about it!!! Here are the most precise impressions I have along with pictures so you’ll be able to make your own opinion.

What’s the style of the Library Hotel?

Like I said, the Library Hotel is very classy. Just like the name indicates, the hotel is mostly decorated with a library theme with books everywhere including in the entrance hall, the reception room and common area and even in bedrooms.

The strongest feature from the Library Hotel is the silence. As soon as you enter this hotel located between the Public Library and Grand Central, you’ll quickly realize that the place is made for you to rest and retreat from the constant frenzy of New York City.

What are the services offered?

In United States, hotels are not graded in stars’ or numbers but it would have been graded between 4 and 5 stars for sure.

WIFI is free everywhere in the hotel including the rooms.

A reading room is available 24/7 with newspapers, books, you can bring your computer or tablet to simply enjoy the place during snack time.

There’s even a beautiful piano in this room:

Precisely, the Library Hotel offers something I’ve never seen before: a free cocktail snack available everyday from 5 to 8 pm in the reading room. I’ll talk more about it later.

A continental breakfast buffet is served in the reading room on the 2nd floor between 7 am to 10.30 am from Monday to Friday and 11 am on Saturday and Sunday.

Each night, at the bar located on the 14th floor of the building, you can take part of lecture or poetry nights, but also enjoy a cocktail drink at the lounge bar or at the rooftop.

As you can see, even though it wasn’t very warm, we ended up going on the rooftop and snapped some amazing pictures.

Library Hotel’s collection of over 6,000 books is organized by the Dewey Decimal System.* Each of the 10 guestroom floors honors one of the 10 categories of the Dewey Decimal System and our 60 rooms are uniquely adorned with about 50-150 books and artwork exploring a distinctive topic within the category it belongs to. Each of the ten guestroom floors of Library Hotel is dedicated to one of the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System* including:

How are the rooms?

Each of the guestroom floors is dedicated to one of the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System. The rooms are adorned with about 50-150 books and artwork exploring a distinctive topic within the category it belongs to.

The categories are: - Social Sciences - Literature - Languages - History - Math & Science - General Knowledge - Technology - Philosophy - The Arts - Religion The number of the room defines the room type: - "Suite Junior" (King Size bed): 006 - "Deluxe Room" (Queen Size bed): 001, 002 and 005 - "Petite Room" (Full Size bed): 003 and 004. Then if you have the room 1200.004, it means that you will stay on the 12th floor corresponding to religion, in a "Petite Room" with the "Germanic Religion Theme".

We’ve picked the Deluxe Room, which was perfect!!! Notice the rooms are pleasantly decorated and in the same style: elegant, classy and sophisticated. Personally, the most important thing is a comfortable bed. And here, I enjoyed a King size bed, we slept really well.

The bathroom was equipped with a big bathtub, a sink with fancy toiletries.

In the bedroom, you’ll find books, a desk, a mini-bar, free WiFi, an iPhone dock alarm clock and cable TV.

How is the service at the Hotel?

The staff on the first floor including groom and waiters are all perfect!!! Friendly, nice and helpful!

How is the breakfast at the Library Hotel?

The breakfast is served in the reading room. Just like the cocktail snack, the place is very quiet with only one waitress given the size of the room.

You can help yourself at the buffet located at the corner of the room and you’ll find: cereals, coffee, tea, freshly squeezed orange juice, cut fruits, muffins, eggs, ham and of course chocolate and plain croissants.

Again, there is not much to say about breakfast other that you’ll have a very good breakfast in a comfortable setting.

What are the rates at the Library Hotel?

Of course, the rates vary according to the room size and busy seasons. It’s possible to get the “Petite Room” for $200 (around 150 euros) at certain dates but it’s true to say that the same room can climb up to $600 (around 450 euros) for New Year' Eve for instance. Anyway, according to the time of your trip to New York, try to please yourself, if you can, with one room at this beautiful NYC hotel.

The good tip at the Library Hotel in NY: the cocktail hour

Everyday, from 5 to 8 pm, come and enjoy hot beverages like coffee, cappuccino, tea but also and especially white or red wines and listen to this: Champagne!!! Oh yeah, they know exactly how to treat their guests at the Library Hotel 🙂

And what can I serve you Madam, Sir? Can I offer you some crackers, a veggie plate and cheese mostly imported from Italy and France?

Even if my wife (post originally written by Alex) doesn’t seem ecstatic on the picture, I can tell you that she enjoyed her glass of champagne and a glass of red Californian wine for myself. And with all that, a beautiful cheese plate with crackers and some fruits.. Anyway, it’s my kind of life 🙂 Sometimes, simple things of life make you happy 🙂

The last good tip of this NY hotel:

The good tip is the view !!! Whether from our room or even better from the 14th floor (rooftop), you can see the New York Public Library, the Empire State Building...

Where is the hotel located?

The Library Hotel is in Murray Hills, 5 minutes away from the Public Library and Grand Central Terminal!Address: 299 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10017Website:http://www.libraryhotel.com

Conclusion

I know this hotel is not cheap, it's not a travel tip for every wallet. But if you're going to NY off-season, you may find good rates. I know that some of you spend their honeymoon in New York City, and this boutique hotel will be a perfect cocoon !